Tuesday, May 19, 2009

If you’ve been in tune with Modular’s latest exports in the past 12 months, if you’re familiar with the dance anthem “My People”, hell, if you’ve got a pair of ears, you’ve heard of The Presets.

Apparently, Adelaide hasn't.

Still brushing the storming success of 2008’s sophomore LP Apocalypso off their shoulders, duo Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes have no plans to stop there. With an ARIA and a J Award both for Best Album of the Year under their belts, the Presets have proved to be a beam of light it what has otherwise been a music industry dip. The K-Rudd stimulus package of music.

They're touring at the moment, playing at Thebbie last Friday night. And all I have to say is WTF. Although a craftsman should never blame his tools, it must be said the crowd was fucking awful. Granted, the Friday show was a sponteanous addition due to Saturday night’s ticket allocation exhaustion, but really – with a dishonourable nod to Live at the Zoo crowds included this was terrible. And that's a BIG call. Just look at the cretins that rocked up to Monarto...

Live at the Zoo. Speaking for itself.

So I can only assume their doting fans were saving themselves for the next night. Or everyone was way too dosed up on crystal meth. Or they all had their periods...

But something, SOMETHING was up, as the entire night there were only about 20 people really getting into it. I'm talking this: standing still, lightly bobbing head, folding arms, oh should we.. should we bounce a bit? Oh - chorus! Okay, lets raise our fists! Okay let's not, too much dance gusto. I'll just jump around 4 times. That should do it. Eep verse, time to stand and look interested again. Jesus. I mean, these guys are one of the biggest bands in Australia. They heralded their entry to the stage with smoke machines and a backdrop of rectangle neon lights. At least dance a bit more to show your apprecation. I don't even like them that much, but I danced like hell anyway. This may or may not have had to do with some chemical influence I had taken 30 minutes earlier.

After manoeuvring my way through the mosh to varying locations – the front of the stage, the sides and the back - I found little difference no matter where I stood. The situation was as such: you stood still like the rest of the lemmings and had a shit time. Or you danced. I chose the latter, and was soon met with a hearty shove in the back by a guy trying to protect his girlfriend from my ‘violent’, apparently, dancing. Biggest "GTFO" moment of my life. Because I was high on drugs and sweaty and because my hair is notoriously annoying in mosh pits (long and wavy), I kept on dancing into him anyway. Take that fucker!

One of the Presets punters. I think the girl on the left ate the good times.

As they worked their way through Apocalypso the tense conditions slightly improved, with tracks like Are You The One? and new single release If I Know You receiving great crowd response. For a while. As the gig progressed, the look of disappointment on Preset’s faces was deplorable. And I can’t say that I blame them. Even a brilliant finale ofMy People did little but make a handful of people quiver during the chorus. At this point I thought "Fuck this," got up on my mate's shoulders and had a borderline epileptic fit while thrusting my fists in Julian's direction. Took one for the team.

As a South Australian music writer I'm all about getting gigs in our home town. But seriously, Live at the Zoo and then this embarrassment. Come the fuck on. Stop bitching about bands never playing here if you guys aren't even going to throw down your guard and dance a little bit.

Adelaide once again stayed true to its “city of folded arms” reputation. Bad form. My solution is MOAR BEERZ.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Monday, May 4, 2009

Anyone who has been to our house before will know that we have a few computers lying about the place hooked up to the net. So rather than yelling across the hall to make Eleanor get me a snack, a Facebook message will usually suffice. Pretty much a domestic communication WIN.

mongalong_x@hotmail.com says:all im left with is some flavourless shit with 3 year old corn called "italian minestrone"